“I like this just as much. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”
“I’m in, I think. Does that mean we’re going clubbing?”
“And swimming and—”
“We went swimming in Palm Beach.”
“I know,” Safire said, “but I love seeing you in skintight bathing trunks.” She looked him up and down. “Hottie.”
Darien felt as if he was blushing but hoped he wasn’t.
“And you’re mesmerizing,” he said.
“Enough rest,” Safire said. “Where to now?”
“Now for our last round of weighing and paying and loading the car. I hope you know you have to take half of this home.”
“You’re kidding. I don’t even know how to cook kale. Maybe some of the fruit, but that’s it.”
“We have to come back for summer fruit,” Darien said. “After this, I thought we could go to a late lunch before going home. I checked online for restaurants, and there’s one that seems okay heading back toward the highway.”
“Okay,” Safire said. Then she took off ahead of him.
Darien thought she just wanted to play catch, since they’d been doing a little of that on the farm grounds. He realized in time that she meant to get ahead of him to the scales and pay for this round of produce. No way. He caught her by the waist and turned her around. She kept trying to get away, and he kept catching her by the waist until they were both laughing.
“Fine,” she said. “But I can contribute.”
“I know you can,” he answered. “Save it for your college education.”
“You help Lawrence out as well, don’t you?” Safire asked.
“Yes, I do, but he also works part-time.”
“You’re a sweetie just like he is,” she said and hugged him.
Something about Safire was different today. She was smiling and laughing, and she was as sensual as ever, but these things weren’t unusual. Part of it was all of the play and affection between them—play that wasn’t leading to the bedroom, affection that just seemed to be how they felt for one another. The chemistry was still there. Darien could feel it in the way Safire stirred his loins and kept him simmering. Yet it was more than this. She was revealing more about herself; she was asking more about him. There was a connection between them. She was trying to let him in.
Darien wrapped his arm around Safire as they headed back to the car, grateful beyond words for the difference in this day.
Their late lunch was at a roadside country restaurant with old-fashioned checkered tablecloths, heavy wooden chairs and overflowing plates. Darien had mashed potatoes and vegetables, and Safire had meat loaf with all the fixings.
“So who would you be in a movie?” Darien asked as they ate.
“Boomerang,” Safire said and chuckled. “I don’t know. Maybe the Diana Ross character in Mahogany. She was full of life.”
“And a fashionista,” Darien said.
“You hush. Well, let me ask you one. What would you change if you could change one thing?”
“I guess I would change being a player when I was younger. But that might not count because it’s not just one thing. If it didn’t count, I would change one of those relationships that burned me so badly and decide not to get involved in the first place.”
“Which one?”
“I guess the second one did more damage.” Darien turned to Safire. “Why haven’t your relationships lasted very long?”
Safire shrugged. “I haven’t found the right one, and I guess I haven’t really been looking for that. I want to finish school. I like being independent.”
Darien knew that there was more, but perhaps Safire didn’t know this. Until it dawned on her, there was no way for her to articulate it to him.
“Could I be the one?” he asked. “Could we last?”
“Maybe.” She looked up, thinking, and then looked at him and smiled. “Maybe.”
Darien wanted to tell Safire that he had fallen for her. He wanted to ask her if it would scare her away if he said he loved her. And he wanted her to say no so that he could tell her.
Instead, he nodded his head, settling for maybe.
They played cards again on the way home. This time Safire pulled her legs up under her, and Darien sheltered her thighs under his palm. When she laughed at one of his answers, he tickled her ribs again, but he also touched her face and her lips.
The affection between them was lighting a fire in them. By the time they got back to Darien’s apartment, Darien was as turned on as Safire seemed to be.
They washed and separated their fruit and vegetables, loading Safire’s into a fabric bag, until she started touching him. Before they were finished, she said, “I dare you,” flashing her Cheshire cat smile. Darien was starting to love that smile and couldn’t help smiling back. Safire said, “I double dare you,” and he took her in his arms, kissing her gently as he lifted her against his body.
Safire wrapped her arms around his neck and murmured against his lips, pressing back against Darien’s body. Finally, Darien broke their kiss and lifted Safire off her feet, letting her wrap her legs around his hips. He carried her to his bedroom, laid her on the bed and covered her with his body. It was early evening, but Darien knew they would be eating a late dinner.
* * *
Darien put down the chisel and mallet he’d been working with and picked up a piece of sandpaper. He was adding some detailing to the Safire piece, and it was finally coming together. He didn’t have long to work on it tonight, but he had added some relief to the base and was smoothing out part of the main figure so that he could begin doing some inlay work and wood burning. This piece was now taking all the time he could spare, but it was his most complicated work to date. It seemed to be turning out well.
After about two hours, he covered it and turned to his table. A piece was clamped to one end, and it wasn’t turning out quite as he had hoped. He studied his drawing for a little bit and then picked up one of his chisels to work. His bedroom studio was filling with larger pieces, and he was glad. This meant that he should be ready for his exhibition.
After a while, he stopped, dusted off his clothes and went into the living room, where he had his schoolbooks and papers spread out on the coffee table. He had reading to do for classes tomorrow, and he had articles to read for his final paper for Critical Studies in the Visual Arts. In fact, he had work to do for all of his final papers and projects, as well as the preliminary draft of his prospectus. It wouldn’t all get done tonight.
At about two o’clock in the morning, Darien was beat, so he went to shower off the grit before going to bed. It had been two days since he’d seen Safire, since they’d gone to pick fruit and vegetables, but her scent was still on his pillow. He loved smelling her and turned into his pillow to inhale her aroma. It was starting to fade, which made the gnawing in his chest grow. He missed her, and it had only been two days. He fell asleep thinking about her Cheshire cat smile and wanting to hold her again soon.
Chapter 15
Safire had spent the later part of the morning grooming. She had washed and curled her hair, exfoliated her face, shaved her legs, painted her fingernails and toenails—the works. She finished her face and checked her hair. She had pulled the front part back into a barrette and let the back part hang down in curls. She felt pampered and sexy, and she hoped that she looked that way, as well.
She was wearing a salmon-colored cocktail dress made of taffeta. It had one shoulder and hugged her curves. The bottom he
m hit her upper thighs, and the skirt was gathered at the sides to create crescent pleats along the front and back. It had a matching cover-up made of sheer organza that was long and had a pleat in the back. She was stepping out.
After a brief search in her closet, Safire sat in the chair next to her bed to put on her shoes. They were off-white leather with a floral-cutout pattern and open toes, and they laced up the middle. They had three-inch heels, but the front had a raised base, so she would be okay. After she got her shoes on, she transferred her purse to a matching off-white clutch. When that was done, she opened the jewelry box on her dresser and found long white dangling earrings. Then she opened her top drawer and found a large white cuff bracelet. She was done.
It was Sunday, and it seemed that Sunday had become a day to spend with Darien. This time she hadn’t been able to see him during the week, but they were making up for it by starting early. They would be spending the day together, as they had last Sunday.
Things were going well, perhaps too well. Safire wasn’t used to this.
While she was waiting for Darien, Safire munched on some pretzels, went through the mail, made a few calls and paid bills. Once she finished, she began looking over the materials for her book club sessions. She waved to Janelle, who was on her way out, and that’s when the buzzer rang.
Safire opened the door and waited for Darien, who appeared from down the hall, looking sexy as all get-out in a cobalt-blue athletic-cut suit, that one braid at his temple loose. She stopped herself from skipping down the hall and leaping on him, but she couldn’t suppress a smile. When he got to the door, she put her arms around his neck and leaned up for a kiss. He kissed her, lifted her up and turned her around. After letting her down, he stepped back and appraised her in her salmon cocktail dress.
“You look beautiful,” he said and kissed her again.
She twirled around and laughed. “You look crazy sexy,” she said. She placed herself in his arms and felt his shoulders beneath the jacket of his suit. “Good enough to eat.”
His brow wrinkled. “I hope you’re not hungry. We don’t eat until later.”
“No, not unless you’re on the menu. I had a snack earlier.”
“I had breakfast, but I’ll be hungry later,” he said, ignoring her innuendo. “Are you ready to go?”
Safire grabbed her cover-up and clutch, and they headed out the door.
They were going to a Sunday-matinee performance of jazz at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on Biscayne Boulevard. The building was large and elegant, and Safire was glad that she was dressed for the occasion. They picked up their tickets at the box office and found their way to the Knight Concert Hall.
There was a whole series of jazz events at the Adrienne Arsht Center. They both enjoyed jazz, so the concert was an easy choice. It was Safire’s pick.
At first, they held hands, bopping to the music. Then Darien slipped his arm around her shoulder, and they continued to move to the music, their heads almost touching and their upper bodies rocking in unison.
“Oh, I loved that,” Safire said as they walked to the car.
“So did I,” Darien said. His hand was on her back, and he looked at her. “I saw you get a little teary at one point. Was that one of your father’s favorites?”
“Yeah, how did you guess?”
“You told me about your father and jazz the first day we met.”
“I remember.”
Safire shook her head. She hadn’t realized that Darien would remember all that she’d said about her father playing jazz albums, but it mattered that he did. She wondered why she had told him that the first time they had gone out on the first day they had met. She had also told him about cooking with her mother. She told him things that she barely knew herself. Something about him made surprising things come spilling out of her—like tears. It was a bit unnerving.
Darien opened the car door for her, but before Safire got in, he gathered her against his chest and kissed her forehead and then her lips.
“Where to next?” he asked.
“Now to a dinner cruise on Biscayne Bay,” she said and gave him the address of their departure harbor.
“This is great. You planned all this?”
“It didn’t take much. I hope you like it.”
“I do,” Darien said.
They boarded the cruise, and dinner was served soon after the departure. It gave them a chance to talk.
“You know,” Safire said, “we haven’t been swimming here in Miami yet.”
“That can be our project for next weekend,” Darien said, “but you know it’s November already.”
“That’s all right,” she said. “The water will be in the low seventies. I can live with that.”
“Actually, so can I,” he said, and they chuckled.
They talked about the concert and then made up questions for each other like the ones on Darien’s deck of cards. After they finished eating, Darien scooted next to her to put his arm around her, and they kept talking, but now they could also touch a little. The dining hall had thinned because people were going up on deck to participate in the tour. Neither of them wanted to move, so they stayed and watched the horizon changing outside the starboard windows.
Safire cuddled closer to Darien and rested her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. It was hard and warm, and Safire wished it was bare so that she could feel it better. His arm was around her, and his fingers played over her hair, lulling her.
“Did you have pets growing up?” he asked.
“No,” she said, “but I wanted them. Dogs, little ones, like the kind you can walk around with in your purse.”
Darien laughed.
“It’s true,” she said. “They have a huge cuteness factor.”
“Do you want kids?”
“Maybe someday. No time soon. My sister’s raising our little brother. He’s seven and started to have seizures earlier this year. I babysit every now and then, but even that’s enough to show me all the responsibility involved. Right now, I want to finish school and have a life. I’ll have a life with kids, but it’ll be a different life. It’ll be about them. What about you?”
“I do,” Darien answered. “I guess I need to finish school and try to become established as an artist and maybe a teacher. I love the Heritage Center, but I might want to teach at the college level one day. But I definitely want kids—two or three.”
“I can see you being great with kids,” Safire said, tracing circles along Darien’s chest.
“I looked after my brother a lot growing up. We were being raised by a widowed, and then divorced, working mother, so I had no choice. I didn’t mind, though. He’s not that much younger than me, but it still gave me experience taking care of younger people. So does teaching.”
“The kids are great.”
Darien took her hand from his chest and kissed her fingers. It was a simple gesture, but it sent a thrill vibrating through Safire’s body. He replaced her hand on his chest and continued their conversation as if nothing had happened.
“You’re good with kids, as well,” he said, “and you’ll be great with your own.”
They talked about kids and a bit about their families and about balancing work and school. Before they knew it, the port was coming into view and the tour was over. They disembarked and walked a bit. Then they turned back.
At the car, Darien asked, “Where to now?”
Safire took hold of his lapels and backed him up against the car before he could open her door. She pressed her body against his and kissed him. She kissed him until he slid his tongue into her waiting mouth and claimed it with his own. His body thickened against her, and it made her needy for more.
When the kiss broke, she put her lips next to his ears and whispered, “I want you, Darien. Take me home so
we can make love. Please.”
She felt his body leap against her and knew that he wanted her also.
Safire moved her head to look into Darien’s eyes. “Is that okay?”
He exhaled. “Okay,” he said. “You’re like a siren—my siren.”
Darien drove them back to Safire’s place as the sun was setting. Janelle was still out, so they had the place to themselves for a little while. Safire drew Darien into her room and slipped his jacket from his shoulders. She felt the twitching bulge at the front of his pants and ran her hand over it until he groaned. She couldn’t wait.
Darien began moving his hands over her body, and the heat growing inside her burst into a flame of desire. Soon he had one hand on her breast, raising the soft nipple into a sensitive peak. Then his other hand climbed up beneath her dress and massaged her already throbbing core.
When she could take no more, Safire pushed Darien away. She pulled her cover-up over her head, moved the shoulder of her dress over her arm and turned around to pull the garment down her body, leaving her in a strapless bra, a thong and heels. Darien was watching her, stupefied. When she moved to him and began removing the clothes from his body, he came to life again and helped her.
Once he was naked, she found a condom in her drawer and offered it to him. As he sheathed himself, she made quick work of her remaining garments and her shoes, and they moved as one to her bed. She climbed in and pulled him down after her, already aching for the feel of him inside her. Darien positioned himself between her thighs, poised just at her entrance. The delicate pressure and the promise that it held made Safire wet and ready, until she was thrashing against his member, trying to pull him inside.
“Please, Darien, please.”
“Yes,” he said. “Anything.”
With that, he moved inside her, filling her as her slick walls yielded to his presence. His thrusts filled her over and over, and her sex pulsed harder and harder. Darien’s hand found her breast again, and his lips covered hers again, multiplying her sensations. The movement of his chest sent sparks into her breasts, and the pressure of his lips filled her heart with tenderness. He was ravishing her—body and soul.
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